blues/rock

[lazaraga]

peace

[cozmicslop]

I live in Chicago and hate playing blues.

Blasphmey?

Kinda. I like Buddy Guys legends tho.

[machinegun78_2]

for this song (http://www.pushoff.net/nuke/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=getit&lid=7) I used my MIM Strat with Texas Specials in it into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with a Marshall AVT 4x12 cab under it. the OD is a Boss SD-1, and the wha in the solo is a Crybaby. the other guitar player used the same set up basicaly, but he didn't run through the cab.


I write alot of songs like this. I also write heavier tunes from time to time, but I try to stay true to my roots.


:cool:

[lazaraga]

peace

[cherri]

I play a epiphone dot (335) through a fender deville 2x12; also play a washburn 12string either DI or through the deville. I'm the backup/rhythm player and the lead vocalist.

Our lead player uses a strat and a fender american standard, a steel resonator, and a lapsteel, through a mesa boogie lonestar.

[caveman]

I play a mid 90s mim Strat with 5% overwound Fralin steel polled 43 pups. For amps I play stereo through a 212r ReverbRocket and a VC60.

[lazaraga]

peace

[machinegun78_2]

Originally posted by cherri
I play a epiphone dot (335) through a fender deville 2x12; also play a washburn 12string either DI or through the deville. I'm the backup/rhythm player and the lead vocalist.

Our lead player uses a strat and a fender american standard, a steel resonator, and a lapsteel, through a mesa boogie lonestar.


I've been thinking of getting a Dot. how does yours compare to a 335? in my teens I had a G-400(SG), and it was a good guitar. if I still had it today, the only thing I would do to it would be to change the pick ups out for PAF type aftermarket p/ups.

:confused:

[cherri]

I love it. I'm not a gearhead, but I like the tone and the playability.

[BLacktocomm]

I play in a blues rock band..

Les Paul Studio
65 Bassman
Hot plate
Avatar 2x12 with a vintage 30 and a g12

[machinegun78_2]

Originally posted by cherri
I love it. I'm not a gearhead, but I like the tone and the playability.


thanks....sounds like I should make a trip to Guitar Center...

:cool:

[60hurts]

I LOVE blues/rock.
wait...no, blues/jazz!
no, that's not right....
jazz/rock!

Yes, I LOVE jazz/rock.
lazaraga, do you know how to get a good jazz/rock tone?

[acousticvoodoo]

The blues rocks!

Love playing the blues on my strats, lp's, p-90 guild, es-135, tele's and more!

It's just FUN!

michael

[lazaraga]

peace

[superiorparts]

i live in the heart of the mississippi delta. i live 24 miles from highway 61, 20 miles from bb king hometown of indianola, 15 miles from robert johnsons grave memorial in sidon(yes there is another in money, ms), ive played at ground zero blues club(owned by morgan freeman) bunches of times, played at 308 blues club in indianola, i know super chickan, paul wine jones, and countless other blues artist. two of my band mates live in clarksdale(where 61 meets 49 or crossroads). we play nothing but rock music. you can take the best blues act in our area and play any club you want and you might get 25 people there. a good rock band will pack the house. i dont think the youth give a rat's ass about the blues. they say that blues come from african americans, well they dont give a shit either. they dont go to the shows. the black youth would rather listen to crap or rap than any blues artist. i have a lot a friends that are deep rooted in the blues and i hate it for them. you had better do it because you love it because the money aint there. i personally don't care much for the blues but i do believe it has its place. morgan freeman has tried real hard to promote the blues. we can't play his club ground zero anymore because we dont do any blues but if we did we would draw 10 times the crowd the blues act will. his club is strictly a blues club, thats what he wants, thats what he gets. i know there is a bigger market somewhere for the blues but it sure is sad that it is not here. i had a friend with me and we went through sidon and i showed him the robert johnson memorial. he didnt know who robert johnson was. what a shame. the youth today.

kevin james

www.monkeyboneband.com

[Dave Martin]

I'm doing something kinda like blues/rock, but it's really more like blues/R&B. Does that count? This band is about half covers and half originals, but the covers tend to be fairly obscure R&B tunes that we really like - anyone besides me remember the Soul Children, Smiley Lewis or Mable Johns?

Currently I'm playing a reissue 60s P Bass (with flatwounds) through an SWR Super Redhead, though for the next gig I'll have my 54 reissue P Bass out of the shop.

[Blackwatch]

I play quite a bit of original blues on a Regal Resonator and a Taylor played through an acoustic amp with just a little reverb. Very simple.
I play with just a drummer and love the freedom it gives me to take off in the middle of a song and go where I want musically without screwing up the rest of the band.
This last year I got to open for John Lee Hooker Jr. and it was a wonderful experience. I love the blues although my music wouldn't be considered straight blues. But there's somthing about the resonator tuned to E that gives just about everything I play with it that bluesy sound.
I'm really thankful that my friends in school were into the blues and gave me an education in it. It's taught me so very much about the language of music...

[santos]

Originally posted by superiorparts
i live in the heart of the mississippi delta...[snip]...what a shame. the youth today.

kevin james

www.monkeyboneband.com

That's sad. You'd think that region would have a thriving blues scene.

I think a lot of blues appreciation comes from musicians, but for many/most in the general public, it's a novelty. Years ago this group of friends who were about 10 years older than me would get together every few months and go see a blues band. But none of them owned any blues music or listened to it otherwise. Similar to "let's go see a jazz band". It's a diversion for a night, like going to see a movie or something.

I love blues - everything from old-timey acoustic stuff to SRV, and I especially love live blues, if it's done well. My band does a few blues songs, but we're mostly funk/rock/r&b. I'd do more blues if it was up to me, but the rest of the band isn't into it as much.

I'm also a big reggae fan, and I think blues has a similar problem - I hear "it all sounds the same" pretty frequently. That can be true to a point, but the more you immerse yourself, the more you can appreciate the subtleties within the formulas of the genres. To me it doesn't sound the same, but if someone's not a fan, or only a casual fan, there's not much you can do.

Hey lazarga, have all of your 6000+ posts been so insightful? Keep up the good work.

[lazaraga]

peace

[Burgess]

I'm in a Blues band.

We play a little rock and want to incorporate some soul but these guys pretty much wanna play blues and not much else. Must be a Chicago thing...

I'm not much for playing blues but I like to play so here I am. I can't bring a song to our playlist no matter what I put on the table so far. I don't know much about traditional blues so there's not much I can offer there, classic rock is frowned on in this band. :(

Though it might seem I'm a bit discouraged, to the contrary. The live gigs are a blast! I basically get the freedom to go as long as I want or wherever I want to go on quite a few solos, I have a solo on almost every song and the reception we've gotten so far has been decent.

I've also convinced these guys that it's feasable to introduce new songs through email and rehearse them for the first time at soundcheck. So as long as we're gigging, there's no rehearsal. Pretty sweet setup really. I'm diggin' it so far! :D

Oh and my rig is:
Marshall AVT150 combo,
ext cab if needed, rarely needed,
AKG Guitar Bug wireless,
I'll bring two guitars of a dozen or so that I rotate. Just whatever two I feel like grabbing, usually one will be active, the other passive, usually. Everything fits in the trunk of my car except the ext cab but like I said, I rarely need it.

I also bring a Behringer V-Amp2 as a backup.

[Outrider]

Our band's byline is "Houserockin' Rhythm & Blues", and we play a good number of old R&B tunes, along with a couple of SRV standards and pile of funky rockin' stuff. So we're not really a "blues" band, but something more fun.

HOWEVER...that's all people see when they look us over. We've been turned down for gigs because they didn't want an old blues band. "People at our club don't want to hear blues."

I'm thinking of changing the byline, simply to avoid that reaction. I think it sounds cool, but it's not working that well for us. I need something that represents while avoiding the pitfall dug by bad blues bands in the past.

Ironically, every time I've been in a straight-up ROCK band, the SRV stuff gets the crowd wound up better than anything else. Go figger.

[tucktronix]

I play keyboards for a local blues band here in Rochester called Steve Grills & The Roadmasters. We do a lot of the traditional Chicago-style blues ranging from Albert Collins to Earl Hooker. I've been with the band for about 12 yrs and over the years, we've opened for a variety of big-name acts, like Leon Russell, Robert Cray and Shemekia Copeland.

[poorboy]

I've noticed that the blues popularity has cycles.At times it's hot, other times not so hot.But it's always there to a degree.It's been around for a long time.It ain't going anywhere.If you love it,you won't mind the wait. I play the blues for me first,other folks second.

[matt greeno]

It really is overrated. It's nice, being that everything came from blues, but there's too much of it around where I live, in cover bands, at open mics, etc...

[Roy Brooks]

Originally posted by tucktronix
I play keyboards for a local blues band here in Rochester called Steve Grills & The Roadmasters. We do a lot of the traditional Chicago-style blues ranging from Albert Collins to Earl Hooker. I've been with the band for about 12 yrs and over the years, we've opened for a variety of big-name acts, like Leon Russell, Robert Cray and Shemekia Copeland.

You heard of a band called Buford & Smokin Section? They play up around Rochester sometimes at the Dinosaur Barbeque. Buford lives near Rochester. Although I live in South Carolina I played several gigs with them up that way in 1999.

[lazaraga]

lol

[Blackwatch]

Never too much of the Blues.....

[tucktronix]

Originally posted by Roy Brooks


You heard of a band called Buford & Smokin Section? They play up around Rochester sometimes at the Dinosaur Barbeque. Buford lives near Rochester. Although I live in South Carolina I played several gigs with them up that way in 1999.

Oh yeah... I know those guys. Buford sat in with us on numerous occasions.

[Professor Tom]

Originally posted by superiorparts
i live in the heart of the mississippi delta. i live 24 miles from highway 61, 20 miles from bb king hometown of indianola, 15 miles from robert johnsons grave memorial in sidon(yes there is another in money, ms), ive played at ground zero blues club(owned by morgan freeman) bunches of times, played at 308 blues club in indianola, i know super chickan, paul wine jones, and countless other blues artist. two of my band mates live in clarksdale(where 61 meets 49 or crossroads). we play nothing but rock music. you can take the best blues act in our area and play any club you want and you might get 25 people there. a good rock band will pack the house. i dont think the youth give a rat's ass about the blues. they say that blues come from african americans, well they dont give a shit either. they dont go to the shows. the black youth would rather listen to crap or rap than any blues artist. i have a lot a friends that are deep rooted in the blues and i hate it for them. you had better do it because you love it because the money aint there. i personally don't care much for the blues but i do believe it has its place. morgan freeman has tried real hard to promote the blues. we can't play his club ground zero anymore because we dont do any blues but if we did we would draw 10 times the crowd the blues act will. his club is strictly a blues club, thats what he wants, thats what he gets. i know there is a bigger market somewhere for the blues but it sure is sad that it is not here. i had a friend with me and we went through sidon and i showed him the robert johnson memorial. he didnt know who robert johnson was. what a shame. the youth today.

kevin james

www.monkeyboneband.com

I believe that is the saddest post I have ever read.

[daddymack]

Originally posted by santos

a thriving blues scene.

Now there is a 21st Century oxymoron...:(

I play in a blues/R&B/swing/Jump combo, covering music from the late 1920s through the early 70s, plus originals. We are generally overlooked in our market by the blues promoters because we are 1) not a 'fronted' band (we are not the Joe Blowjob Blues Band or Dick Head and the Semen Squirters...:rolleyes: ), 2) we are not 'guitar dominated' (I'm not the second coming of SRV/Jimi/Clapton/whoever) and 30 we have 3 lead vocalists who rotate throughtout each set.

That said, when people do hear us, they almost immediately realize that we are 1) having fun 2) pretty good at being entertaining 3) not boring/monotonous 4) worth rebooking. For instance, the first time we played BB King's Hollywood, we were rebooked as a regular Saturday opener before we hit dressing room after our set.

Other local blues bands ask where we are playing, mainly to steal material from us ;) , since we are very eclectic, from Cab Calloway to Nat Cole, from Louis Jordan to Louis Armstrong, Muddy, Wolf, T-bone, the 3 Kings, Booker T and the MGs, James Brown, Sam and Dave...and we intentionally avoid the standard blues covers that most bands do, or we go back to the original source material rather than cover a cover, so we get a fresher take.

There are unfortunately only a few viable blues clubs left in the Los Angeles area that can pay us what we expect, and they are too busy booking the fronted bands and the touring acts...so we do private/corporate work, fairs, general arts festivals...

It is a sad state of affairs that one of America's indigenous art forms has been relegated to the back corner of the shed because no one understands its true nature...:cry:

[Roy Brooks]

The only blues club where I live is a club owned by the leader of the band that plays there. They are not very good but worth the listen just to see just how bad they can be, in a performance art kind of way.
There are other clubs in town that will occasionally have a blues band. But most blues bands around here do most of their playing around the time of the blues festival. Some play private parties for the more well to do blues fans.

I'm a guitar player and have played quite a bit of blues in my time. Though pretty much all my blues heroes had done a majority of their recording before about 1955, with the exception of maybe Don Van Vliet and Fred McDowell. Though I do dig some of the Mississippi hill country blues.

[Jon Doe]

The Blues ain't for everybody. Never tried to be. Blues is for music people. I do the blues because it's a huge incubator for everything else.

[Blackwatch]

Hey Jon....Have you played the Hwy 99 Blues Club yet? It's a great blues club, I think it's the only blues club in this town. Nice to see another Seattle blues guy here.....

[Jon Doe]

Join the WBS. There's blues all over this town. Been to the "Cool Joint" many times and a close friend plays keys down there on Monday night OJ's.

I work 7 blocks from the 99, but live one county north. Lots of cool blues up north too.

I'll PM you.

[Adrian Crow]

blues rock is the best. It is so full of emotion. it also leaves room for improv. Not enough people my age (18) are smart enough to realize how awsome it is.

[Roy Brooks]

All things considered, although blues/rock may not be my preferred listening I have found that it is one of the few subgenres of music that does allow for alot of improvisation. And improvisation is one of the things I most enjoy about music.

[BlueStrat]

Originally posted by Jon Doe
Join the WBS. There's blues all over this town. Been to the "Cool Joint" many times and a close friend plays keys down there on Monday night OJ's.

I work 7 blocks from the 99, but live one county north. Lots of cool blues up north too.

I'll PM you.

Have you heard anything about Fat James lately? I know his health was bad. Last time I played the Wild Buffalo in Bellingham he came to see me and I invited him to play, but he was hurting too bad to get on stage. :(

I also know Nick Vigarino as an acquaintance (we've done a few festivals together) and I know Jude Bowerman pretty well and have played with him and done a lot of shows together.

[Jon Doe]

I know Fat James had some surgery, and the last time I talked with Buck Ireland he said james was getting better. He had Lap Band surgery as I understand it and may be shopping around for a new name. Don't quote me on this, as it's just rumour. I'll ask around again on tuesday night.

It's been a while since I saw Nick. Another mind blowing guitar player.

I sail out of Bellingham Bay and usually will go up a night early to catch an evening at The Wild Buffalo HOM then sleep on the boat. Lots of good jams in that town.

We'll have to get together sometime.